Oath in the Darkness
by Emily Evelan
Summary: The Death Game has begun, and no one can escape; until the final floor is cleared. Kamiya Yuyuki and her sister Ayase must somehow survive in the unknown world that has become real until the game can be ended; either safe in the cities, or risking their lives in the front lines. Which is it? Female OCs
1. New World - 1

**Prologue:**

**Friday: November 4, 2022 3:00**

At the sudden ringing of the school bell, Yuyuki quietly stood up with the rest of her class and faced the front of the classroom and bowed, following the teacher's example. She stuffed the test paper she was handed back into her book bag and prepared to leave when a couple of her classmates tapped her on the way out.

"Ne, Kamiya-san, want to join us? We're going to the store later for candy!" The trio waited impatiently for her answer, and when she politely shook her head no, a brief look of disappointment passed through their faces. Then they cheered up and nodded. "Okay then, maybe next time!" They each patted her shoulders and ran out of the classroom, prompting cries of outrage from the teachers walking in the halls. Yuyuki linked her fingers together in front of her, hooked onto the handle of her book bag.

Dodging the various students in the hallways on their way to their club rooms or home, she made for the nearest restroom and looked into the mirror. Taking off her blue framed glasses, her vision gradually fading as her eyes struggled to focus without help. . Reaching into her pocket for a small box, she took out a pair of contact lens, blue in color. Widening her eyes, she carefully put it in each of her eyes and blinked a few times to get use to the contacts again. When she blinked for the last time, her chestnut brown eyes had turned light blue, slightly darker than the sky on a clear day.

She sighed inwardly. Despite her pleas, her mother insisted on the colored lens instead of the clear ones that Yuyuki herself thought was better. At least with the contacts she wouldn't have to worry about any accidents with her glasses and her being blind for the rest of the day. Taking out her glasses case, she carefully slipped the lens into the box and the box into her bag. Clicking open her phone, she looked at the time and panicked.

It's already five past three! Her sister is probably already waiting for her in the parking lot of the campus. Slipping the phone into her pocket, she grabbed her bag and ran through the now empty halls of the building. Now and then, she could see movements in rooms as the clubs went about with their activities; the origami club room filled with paper, the shogi club playing board games. She almost stopped to watch the shogi club, but she shook her head and internally scolded her self for even thinking about going off task. Her footsteps echoed all over the building as she rounded a corner and bumped straight into another girl carrying a stack of papers.

They both fell back and the stack of papers exploded into sheets and fluttered all over the floor, covering the floor like a tiny layer of snow bound to come soon. Yuyuki sat up slowly, rubbed the back of her head in pain; her vision blurry and seeing double. A hand appeared in front of her and she grabbed it slowly.

The girl pulled her to her feet and offered a light bow. Although it every movement made her head spin, she dipped her head anyway, knowing fully that it was her fault.

"Thank you," she managed out hurriedly, blood flowing to her face. She took the a moment of let her gaze leave to floor and look at girl who so kindly helped her up. Her uniform is different from her own; slightly more elaborate in design and a deeper shade of red. She recognized the campus' middle school uniform. Hurriedly, she corrected her language. "Thank you, senpai!" She bowed again, deeper this time.

The girl waved it off and bent down to pick up the pieces of paper. "Sorry for bumping into you," she said, still cheerful despite her fall. She pushed a strand of light brown hair out of her face.

Yuyuki reddened. Flustered, she answered quickly. "No, it was my fault for running in the halls. I'm sorry, senpai!" She leaned her bag on the wall and bent down to help pick up the pieces of paper, making sure they're facing the right way. After a few moments, she looked at the girl. The girl had her brown hair tied in twin pony tails that kind of sticks out of the sides and reached the top of her neck; fastened by red ribbons. The girl suddenly looked up as well, catching Yuyuki's eyes.

"'Senpai' is too formal, it's making me nervous. My name is Keiko; what is yours?" she asked, looking at Yuyuki. Yuyuki hesitated before giving her name.

"Yuyuki...Kamiya Yuyuki, Keiko-senpai," she answered. Keiko laughed; a bright clear sound, but when Yuyuki asked her about the reason, she didn't say anything. Finally, they stood up and Yuyuki handed her the stack of paper that she picked up. Both hands busy, Keiko nodded and smiled at Yuyuki before taking off in a half run to make up for lost time. Meanwhile; Yuyuki grabbed her bag and settled for a fast walk in order to avoid more accidents.

As soon as she was out of the school building, she broke into a sprint; running down a wide path toward the center of the campus. The path came to a intersection and she followed it north and then east to the parking lot. Behind her, the huge high school building and the smaller middle school and elementary school building shrank in the distance. Reaching the parking lot, she ran through the lot and looked in each row of cars for her sister.

Hearing her name, she spun around until she pinpointed the location and ran towards it, weaving back and forth through what little cars still remained in the parking lot in the after school hours. Finally, she saw her sister waving at her.

Ayase is still wearing her school uniform. It looked similar to the the middle school uniform; consisting of a red blazer with white outlines along the edges and a skirt instead of the sailor type that middle school girls and younger wear to school. As Yuyuki drew closer, she could just make out her sister's eyes through the dark glass of the motorcycle helmet she wore. As soon as she was within range, Ayase picked up second, smaller helmet from between the scooter's handlebars and tossed it underhand to Yuyuki, who barely caught it.

"Oh, nice. You managed to catch it this time," Ayase cheered as Yuyuki finally reached her, panting slightly. "Come on, let's head home." She gave Yuyuki a boost onto the back of the scooter seat before climbing on herself. She waited until Yuyuki fastened her helmet and looped her arms around her waist. "Hang on tight, Yuyuki, you're not allowed to fall!" Her sister waited until she felt movement behind her indicating Yuyuki's nod and a muffled cry of affirmation.

At the turn of her sister's keys, Yuyuki felt the locks on the wheels release with a soft tremble through the machine. The sleek black bike gave a hiss and the whole machine began to tremble like a beast awakening. The crystal display on the scooter came to life, the arrows moving back and forth before settling; the speed, gas and essential information. Thanks to her family's habit of weird tastes, the bike had lights in random places in the scooter's exoskeleton; flicked on and off at the push of a button and giving it a intimidating look at night. Totally random.

"Lets go!" cheered Ayase. She cracked her knuckles and pulled on her gloves. As Yuyuki tried to pressed her head snugly against her sister's back, she felt a slight twinge of anger at the thick helmet that kept her from snuggle against her sister. Even as the thought crossed her mind, she heard a clank as her sister shifted gears and they began to move forward, quite slowly until they were out of the parking lot before she heard the motor's pitch rise. In seconds, they were cruising at the same speed as nearby cars; maybe a bit slower. She saw some kids in a car point at them, and saw their mouths move. She smiled to herself and tighten her grip. Ayase mistook her movement for fear and slowed down a bit before Yuyuki told her through muffled shouts that she was wrong. Her sister laughed and accelerated to their previous speed.

As they always did during the weekend, Ayase soon broke away from the city traffic and went down a narrow road into slightly less populated areas. As they sped on, the residences they saw became larger and further apart. Finally, they slowed to a stop in front of a small mansion with high walls and large metal gates. When Yuyuki released her tight grip of her sister's waist, Ayase swung down from the seat before helping her down, offering a hand. Yuyuki grabbed it and jumped down, landing on the ground with a small puff of dust, clutching her book bag to her chest.

"You're so slow, Yuyu!" Ayase chided, taking her hand. Shaking her head at her silence, Ayase reached into her breast pocket and took out a keycard. Slipping it into a lock mechanism near the gate, she quickly typed in a short code and pulled out the card as soon as a green light lit and the gate began to clank open. She shoved Yuyuki through the gate before running back to roll her black scooter into the gate before it closed.

As the doors closed with a clank behind them, Yuyuki walked alongside Ayase as her sister rolled her scooter into a garage and slammed the shutter doors close. The siblings ran into the large house and upstairs to their room.

Jumping onto Ayase's bed while her sister opened her book bag to take out her school work, Yuyuki rolled to face the ceiling. "When will they come home?"

Ayase sat down at her desk and flipped on her lamp. "I don't know. Don't you have homework, Yuyu?"

She shook her head and rolled off the bed, walking toward the door. "I finished it in class. I'm going to look for some food, okay?" She waited for a reply, but Ayase just raised a hand and gave her a little wave. Yuyuki nodded to the back of her sister's head and opened the door, thumping down the stairs toward the kitchen in the various corridors and halls of the large building. She remembered when they first moved in here, she got lost and sat down and cried right next to the room she wanted to get to.

She smiled to herself at the memory and walked into the kitchen. She stopped. There were two boxes stacked on the dinner table with a piece of paper stuck in between the boxes. Approaching the boxes, she pulled out the piece of paper.

_There are two NerveGear helmets in the box along with the latest virtual reality games in the flash drive. Read the instruction manual; we didn't bother. There are food and stuff in the fridge and closet. Survive on that until we get home on Monday. Work calls! Bai bai. -Love Mom and Dad_

_P.S: Server on Sword Art Online starts at 13:00; don't miss it. The product keys is already in the helmets; set by your loving father. Do your homework and have fun!_

Yuyuki stared at the message for one...two...three seconds before spinning on her heels and charging upstairs. Bursting back into Ayase's room, she made her sister jump in surprise as she turned to see the intruder.

"Ah! Don't scare me Yuyu. What's the matter?" Ayase asked. Yuyuki handed her the paper, slightly breathless. Ayase skimmed over the letter before laughing. "They're...haha...so irresponsible. 'Survive on that?'" she gasped in between bursts of laughter, "what kind of parents leaves a message like that?" She rose out of her chair and pulled Yuyuki downstairs again toward the kitchen. "Lets go get food and then wait until I finish my homework. We can test out the NerveGear tomorrow. I didn't think Mom and Dad could actually get two of them. They're always so busy..."

The two sisters thumped down the stairs toward the kitchen and ripped open the fridge door; helping themselves to the sandwiches they found wrapped. Eating the food, Ayase cut open the boxes and pulled out a heavy dark blue helmet. A small booklet fell out as soon as Ayase righted the helmet and she picked it up. She took one look at it and shoved it at Yuyuki.

"I'm sorry, Yuyu. I suddenly feel very sick. I must go rest myself. Please read the instruction, my dear sister; until I can recover from this mysterious ailment." With that, she glided out the room with a flourish; leaving Yuyuki holding the small book in her little hands.

* * *

Note: I have never been on a motorcycle before, so please correct any mistakes I made. This is a rewrite of the first chapter for Oath in the Darkness. Hope you enjoy it more than the original. Also, I have no idea is any of this is legal (motorcycle). Please review and favorite. Thanks!


	2. New World - 2

**New World - Chapter 2**

The sisters laid side by side on their parents' large bed. Their heads rested on big fluffy pillows that rested neatly against the dark polished wood of the back of the bed; their bodies sinking slightly into the cool bed sheets and covers of the king sized bed.

Unconsciously, Yuyuki's index and middle finger inched toward her sister's and they touched, a habit that the sisters developed over the years when Yuyuki used to cling to her older sister every minute of the day. Back when they slept between their parents, their protective presence washed over them each night.

Now, Yuyuki curled her fingers around Ayase's hand and held on tight. Her heart pounded in her chest as she waited for Ayase to return from her Dive. The technology was completely foreign to her. Even if she had followed the development from the day it was announced, nothing could possibly prepare her for the experience of diving.

The blue helmet suddenly felt like it was made of lead, the sensors constricting her, crushing her, sinking into the pillow and pulling her with it. What if her sister didn't come back?

Her whole body shivering now, she lifted a trembling hand to remove the helmet when she felt her sister's hand twitch. Feeling the movement, her trembling stopped and she dropped her hand. Ayase, however, felt her trembling when she came out of her Dive and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"It's okay, Yuyuki. It will be fine. Everything is working as it should be. When you first use it, you will enter a white room and you will see a floating menu!" Ayase described in a low soothing voice; the voice calming Yuyuki down as she absorbed the knowledge that Ayase provided.

"You will see several simulations and there is also a Sword Art Online icon. You can create your avatar now so it will be ready when the server opens."

Yuyuki nodded, even though she knew Ayase couldn't see her. She listened carefully as her sister relayed what she learned while she tested out the equipment. "There is a pre-generated world in the drive too, for new users to get used to using NerveGear. I'll be waiting for you there once you finish making your avatar, okay?"

"Okay, onee-sama," Yuyuki said, her confidence returning as her sister relayed to her what she needed to do.

"Just close your eyes and say 'Link Start'," Ayase whispered, "I'll be here until you're connected."

Yuyuki nodded and closed her eyes, whispering the words echoing from her sister's voice and everything went black. Before she could react or cry out in surprise, her vision exploded with color, her surrounding flying past her with all the colors in the world. Without warning, everything became dark and she felt solid ground beneath her bare feet. She could clearly feel the warmth of her body seeping into the flawless, smooth surface of the floor.

She heard a faint click and the dark room turned white. Before her, a trio of floating panels bobbed at eye level. Partially translucent and the color of thin ice, she could see the walls of a circular room through them. Walking slowly to the left end of the panels, she saw a window in the first plate.

As she looked at the panel closely, she found that she could see a field of grass and flowers, the blades and petals swaying back and forth with the wind. In the background, she saw a range of mountains, fading in the distance, the peaks white and partially concealed by wisps of clouds. She felt that if she reached into the panel, she would feel a warm wind blowing through the gaps between her fingers.

Mesmerized, her hand creeped toward the screen, but as the tip of her finger touched the panel, it rippled like water and a window popped up. "Would you like to enter The World?"

Surprised by the appearance of the window, Yuyuki drew back. Remembering her sister's words, she cautiously tapped the red no button. The window closed on itself and disappeared abruptly. After staring at the scenery for several more heartbeats, she moved on to the next panel.

The panel was completely empty, merely labeled "Customize." Curious, Yuyuki lightly touched the surface and tapped Yes. Her surroundings immediately began spinning, white darkening into black. When it finally stopped, Yuyuki turned in a circle, taking in the details around her.

A section of the wall was a mirror and the rest of the room was filled with different selections of hairstyles and fashion. Looking into the mirror, she stared at her reflection. Her dark hair was slightly messy from the careless brushing she had subjected it in the morning. Falling down around her shoulders, she followed the family's tradition of keeping their hair long from a young age. She wore a plain white dress that reached her knees. Really, except for her clothes, she looked as though she'd just rolled off the bed.

Reaching up, she tapped a image of a hairstyle with a ponytail. Her body was encased in light, and numbers seemingly covered her, and when it disappeared, her hair had been rearranged into a ponytail. Turning to look, she nodded in satisfaction. She still felt a twinge of disappointment that the interface gave her specific hairstyles without much variation though.

Tugging a hand through her hair, she was pleasantly surprised when she felt she could adjust the ponytail like she could with her normal hair.

When she reached up on her tiptoes to select another style, her attention was caught by the movement in the top right corner of her view. It was already twelve! Assuming, she created her SAO avatar right now, they would only have an hour to explore and get used to Virtual Reality before the server opened.

Hurriedly, she swiped her right hand down like her sister instructed her to do and pushed the Exit button. Her surroundings spun again and she found herself in the white room once more.

Making her way to the last panel, she found herself looking at a floating fortress, chains dangling underneath. It dwarfed entire mountains, hovering over a massive plain, the wildlife underneath invisible and overshadowed.

She touched the fortress and a confirmation window popped up. She closed her eyes to avoid the dizzying experience of her spinning surroundings and after a few seconds, she opened her eyes again. Instead of the animation she expected, she found herself flying through a tunnel, information visualized as colorful tubes as she sped toward the Sword Art Online server. Instead of heading straight, however, she suddenly stopped, a screen popping up in front of her.

"This is your first time playing Sword Art Online. Would you like to create your character or use a preset character?" Yuyuki chose Create without hesitation.

A black swirl appeared beside her, and a smaller tunnel opened. The system whisked her into it and deposited her in the center of a square room.

"Choose your gender."

Yuyuki froze as a voice rang through the room from nowhere. She has to create an avatar twice? More importantly, the game allowed gender changes? She looked at herself, her small frame. In all the games she had played, it was usually as a male avatar. Why should this be any different? "Boy!" she shouted, feeling slightly stupid for yelling at an empty room.

She watched as a statistic window opened up in front of her and it did nothing to prepare her as a flash of light blinded her and she instinctively squeezed her eyes shut. As the light faded, she opened her eyes a tiny bit before fully opening them. In front of her and behind the stat window was a spinning 3D contour of a boy her age.

Her eyes wandered around the contour, looking at it aimlessly, just taking in the shape. As she watched, the numbers on the window changed, a row labeled "STR" increased by a few digits while "DEX" dropped. She knew games well enough to know what each abbreviation stood for.

After a brief pause, the voice spoke again. "Set your age, height and weight. Body fitness will be automatically set. "

Three sliders appeared in front of her. After a few seconds, she slid the bar over to 19 years, 175 cm and 70kg. Before her eyes, the model contorted and grew taller and broader at the shoulders, thin arms thickening and muscles becoming more prominent. The window blinked again, but nothing changed.

Then she understood; stats change only slightly when you change your avatar...females have marginally lower strength and a barely noticeable increase in dexterity. Size does not matter.

The voice sounded in her head again. "Choose your hairstyle, eye color and skin tone."

A color chart popped up in front of her, along with a model head with scissors and combs. With a flick of her wrist, she changed the color of the model's eyes to dark brown, a extremely normal and common color. Another movement of her hand and she changed the the long hair of the model to dark brown as well.

Very carefully, bit by bit, she trimmed the hair down until it's about five inches long at its longest, the front almost covering the eyes of the model. As a final touch, she set the avatar's skin to a pale color but with a bit of tan.

Slowly tweaking it, she changed the face shape while the server made adjustments to make sure the head was still human. What she ended up with made Yuyuki stare; the face looked like a teenage boy, and had he been her age, she may have fallen in love right then and there. Even knowing he wasn't real, she admired how perfect he looked.

As she confirmed the changes, the head disappeared and the floating contour began to solidify, color covered the blue netting of data. The hairless head began to become covered with strands of dark brown, reaching just over the eyes. As the hair stopped growing, the eyes itself changed, the empty space darkening, and seconds later, eyes of liquid dark chocolate stared straight ahead over her.

With a gasp, Yuyuki covered her eyes, her face red with blush; the avatar was naked! Even if the bottom parts were censored... Despite her personal concerns, she peeked through a gap between her fingers and breath a sigh of both relief and disappointment.

The server ran a scan over the avatar and with a explosion of sparkling blue shards of polygons, the avatar became clothed in unique starter armor. Hardened leather protected the chest, arms and legs, a thin piece silver metal covered the front of the breastplate. Underneath the armor, the avatar wore a faded red shirt and pants, looking like a stylized medieval warrior.

The avatar suddenly stopped floating and dropped onto the floor in front of her, landing on one knee and hand. Standing back up, he towered over her and she had to look up to look at his face. A window opened up in front of her.

"Are you satisfied with your avatar?"

Without hesitation, she tapped Yes. A second later, the avatar held out his right hand toward her, mechanically. Gripping it, she felt something pass between them through their linked fingers, feeling herself being pulled into him. She blacked out for a instant and after a momentary blur, she found herself high up the air, looking down at herself.

Letting go of the other Yuyuki's hand, she watched as her own body disappeared, disintegrating away into tiny glittering polygons that shattering into sparkling dust, and then nothing as it hit the floor.

A strange fascination gripped her. Part of her is amazed at the beauty of the countless crystals, unable to tear her gaze away. Another part of her stared in horror, heart pounding and breathless at the lack of evidence that she, the ten year old girl has ever existed.

A keyboard suddenly phased into existence in front of her, complete with a screen. "What is your name?"

The nameless boy extended an unfamiliar hand toward the semi-translucent keyboard and stopped right before his finger touched the buttons. The boy sat down abruptly, legs underneath his thighs and close together. Biting a fingernail, he thought about what to choose for his name.

The numbers in the corner of his vision changed once more, but he didn't notice. He cleared his throat, and took in a breath, speaking for the first time.

"What should my name be?" The boy stopped as soon as he finished the sentence, marveling at the deep masculine voice, humming softly as he tried to hear more of it, wanting to listen to the entire range of his unfamiliar voice. Seconds barely passed before he stopped himself from humming any more.

_I'm so easily sidetracked…_

"Ahhh!" he shouted, frustrated. He leaned back until his back hit the floor and stretched out, rolling back and forth on the ground. "I can't think of anything!"

Without warning, the voice that's guiding him through the character creation interrupted his thoughts.

"You seem to be having trouble finding a name. If you put your full name into the system, the system will present you with a few suggestions."

The voice fell silent and a few seconds later, the keyboard flew in front of him. Lifting his fingers and typing his name in, his finger stopped an inch above the Enter button in a brief moment of hesitation before lowering it the remaining distance. In an instant, four names popped up, a different combinations of his original name Kamiya Yuyuki.

_Kamiyu...no, that doesn't sound right._

_Kamiki? It sounds kind of ridiculous…_

_What about Kikami? It's the previous one reversed and it sounds nice, but not quite it.._

_Last one…Yukami...it sounds nice..._

The boy rolled the name around in his head a bit and then typed it into the text window, and entered it into the system.

"Congratulations, your character has been created. Please enter the portal to enter the game."

The air next to Yukami twisted and ripped; a light blue hole spun open, the currents of magic in the portal beckoning him. A plain shortsword floated in the center of the vortex. Without pausing, he grabbed the weapon and stepped through the portal.

He opened his eyes to the chaos of a city.

(Line Break)

Butterflies buffeted the air with their multicolored wings, taking off into the sweet air as the stalks of flowers that they were just feeding on disappeared under the body of a teenager as she rolled across the plain.

The high schooler stopped rolling and laid flat on her back, arms stretched on either side of her as she waited.

Ayase tilted her head back and held her right hand in front of her face, between her eyes and the afternoon sun, her back lifting. Squinting at the bright sunlight that flashed between her fingers, she examined the back of her hand, bored out of her mind.

She turned her attention to the top right corner of her vision without moving her eyes nor her head and watched the time. The numbers appeared the pulse at every second interval and the last number suddenly changed.

12:45….12:46

_I wonder if she's coming, she's late._

After a few second of conflict within her head, she gave up. If her sister wasn't going to come this late, she's not coming.

With that thought firmly in her head, Ayase jumped up and put two fingers into her mouth and blew. A loud, shrill sound burst out from her and within seconds, flapping echoed the field. Thundering wing beats flattened the grasses below it as enormous torrents of air shifted to keep a massive reptilian body afloat. Its earsplitting roar shattered the calm and the entire plain fell silent, in fear and reverence to a beast heard of only in legends.

Ayase looked up at the dragon, covered in crystal. With each wingbeat, huge shards of crystals fell off the beast, raining all around her; the pieces fading as they touched the earth. The dragon tossed its head, sending a last shower crystals raining onto the ground.

The titanic beast flashed emerald in the sun; the brilliant scales scattering the light with clarity. A pair of wings extended from the dragon's shoulders, casting a huge shadow on the grass as it mirrored the dragon's every moment. A long serpentine neck ridged with spikes stretched in front of it, and a even longer tail whipped the air behind the dragon.

The dragon landed suddenly, shaking the earth. It extended its head toward Ayase, and she reached out to touch the lustrous scales that plated the dragon's snout. Immediately, it drew back its mouth stretched in another roar.

Ayase understood its message well. Even if she is the master of the world, bending its laws with a single movement in her fingers, the dragon's power is higher than even that. Smiling to herself, Ayase marveled at the details that made up the legendary beast, not a single imperfection. Half joking but completely sincere, she knelt down and touched her head to the ground.

The dragon snorted at her gesture. Twin jets of blue-green flame shot out from it's nostrils, setting the grass on fire. The whip-like tail flashed around the beast and extinguished the flames with a single swipe. Leaving it there in front of her, the dragon stared at Ayase with a single green eye.

This time, when Ayase reached out to the dragon, it did not move, merely observing her every movement with intelligent eyes. Her hand touched the tail and she gripped one of the spikes tightly.

She was completely unprepared when the dragon lifted its tail without warning and Ayase with it. Screaming, she flew through the air, landing with a thud on the dragon's back, the air driven out of her.

Letting go of the dragon's tail spike, she readjusted her grip and wrapped her hands around a spike that rose up to her waist. Sitting down and grasping her grip tightly, Ayase prepared herself mentally for anything that may happen.

The dragon rose to its feet and unfurled its massive wings. Beating wings whipped the air into a hurricane. The dragon's forelegs raised up from the earth, claws tearing deep gouges into the soil. With a massive effort, the hind legs pushed off as well, lifting the huge beast into the air.

A few thunderous flaps later, the dragon and its rider sped like a emerald-tipped arrow over the plains. Ayase looked over the side of the dragon cautiously and saw the ground pass by in a blur.

Within minutes, the dragon reached a range of towering mountains; the peaks hidden in the clouds that drifted like a floating ocean. The massive wingspan propelled the beast forward massive distances each each flap of the wings and the dragon circled the sides of a mountain. The bare rocks were coated in frost, ice crystals reflecting the rich green of the dragon's scales. Cold winds cut into Ayase's skin and she squinted to protect her eyes.

Clearing the mountains, the land below them filled with trees. A vast forest stretched below, the emerald matching the dragon's scales.

Without warning, the dragon suddenly pulled into a dive. The wings snapped back, catching the wind like enormous sails as the dragon neared the ground. The wingbeats sped up but weakened and the dragon crashed into the water of a lake in the middle of the forest. The freezing water splashed onto Ayase, but she laughed at the exhilaration of the flight and fought to catch her breath from the high altitude journey.

The dragon splashed for a few seconds and then weaved through the water like a sea serpent, cleaving through the water. Reaching land, the dragon climbed onto the shore and beat its wings, scattering water droplets that glittered like diamonds all around her. It crouched down again, meaning clear.

Ayase released her grip from the dragon's spike and dropped down onto the ground. She bowed to the legendary beast once more and flicked open a menu with a hand. Her finger flipped through the setting until she found what she was looking for.

"Dismiss the dragon?"

Her fingers reached toward "Yes," with a twinge of dissatisfaction. As soon as the tip of her finger touched the blue circle, the menu disappeared and the dragon stood up.

With a proud toss of its head, the dragon swiped a tongue over the scales on the back of one of its paws. The dragon lashed its tail and took off in a cyclone into the sky. Beating its gigantic wings, it climbed higher in the sky until it disappeared into the distance, its green scales sparkling for an instant before it faded as well.

Ayase released a deep breath and waiting for her heart to calm. Turning and walking into the depths of the foliage in the forest, she opened the menu again.

_I'm ready..._

_It's almost one…i wonder if I can find Yuyuki..._

She flicked a finger across the menu until an icon appeared; one that showed a floating castle. She tapped it, closed her eyes and walked forward.

On the other side, a teenage girl with waist length jet black hair. The girl wore a metal chestplate with leather under armour. Metal plates sewn to a short skirt protected her upper legs while greaves protected the bottom. A scabbard with a steel sword hung securely on a belt.

* * *

She took a step into the new world, metal boots grinding the dirt beneath her. A boy slightly taller than her stared in awe at the city, along with several others.


	3. New World - 3

**New World - Chapter 3**

Yukami planted his sword into the ground against the incoming boar's charge. The boar collided with the flat of the blade and recoiled, tossing its tusks. Pulling his blade out, Yukami followed immediately and slashed the boar along the side, opening a thin gash of red matrix. The green health bar of the boar emptied rapidly, stopping abruptly an eighth down the bar. The animal squealed in pain, sidestepping away a few feet.

Taking advantage of the opening, Yukami dashed forward and drove his sword into the back of the animal's neck. The green bar moved again, decreasing to orange, red and finally emptied. The boar turned blue and exploded into thousands of shimmering shards, fading away as it fell toward the grass.

Exhausted, Yukami fell back on the green spread of grass in the middle of the plains, just as another boar spawned not ten feet away. "If every kill takes this long, I don't think I will continue playing," he mumbled to himself, turning on his side and examined worn leather hilt of his blade for the dozenth time.

Even after being in the field for half an hour, he had only killed around forty monsters and gone through a decent supply of potions. He had started slow, but as he got used to combat, he got faster in his kills.

Idly turning the sword around and around in his hands, a face appeared in front of him from off to the side and stared at him. For a second, he looked blankly before he tossed his sword and jerked in surprised. The back of his head smacked into the feet of the girl who was leaning over him. The girl jumped back a few steps before crouching in the tall grass, watching as Yukami picked himself up from the ground. She muffled a giggle with her hand as he corrected himself in a clumsy manner, dusting his pants in embarrassment.

Looking up again, Yukami ran his gaze over the girl curiously. The girl wore a tan skirt that ran down to her knees and was shielded with steel plates. Her torso was armored with a solid iron breastplate and thick leather. A wide edged claymore that looked way too large for her was slung across her back, straps holding it tightly in place.

Aquamarine eyes slanted up a fraction to look at him directly. He could see humor in the way the sides of her mouth curve up slightly as if she found him amusing. Hooking her finger around her almond colored hair, the girl flipped the strands that got loose back behind her ear. "Hello, my name is Meiko."

Yukami blinked at the sudden introduction. "Hi, mine is Yu-...Yukami.." Meiko smiled at his hesitation. She turned and stepped backwards to the side and gestured at another girl lurking in the background, previously concealed by Meiko.

"This is Alecia. She and I are in a party. We're training. She and I are both level two. We're having trouble grinding to level three though."

The girl with the jet black hair looked up from the ground, her eyes an unusual amethyst color. She gave a brief smile before looking back, clearly thinking about something.

The girl called Meiko coughed, snapping Yukami's attention back to her.

"I know it's kind of sudden, but I would like to extend a party invitation toward you," Meiko said, sliding a figure through her interface and a screen suddenly opened in front of Yukami.

He stared at the question on the floating screen, at the two circular buttons and at the two girl. Briefly, he considered the merits of joining. If he joined, it would be easier to kill monsters and games are meant to be played with friends.

Nodding once, he tapped the left button, confirming his acceptance. With a soft chime, names appeared under his own on his HUD; next to them the levels, statuses and names of his new team. Looking up from the interface towards the girls, he saw that Meiko wore a warm welcoming smile on her face.

"Well then, welcome to the party, Yukami," she said. "It was getting lonely with only two people, and since you're alone, Alecia suggested that you could join."

Yukami managed to hide his surprise behind a neutral face. He would never have thought that the black haired girl who didn't speak without prompting would have suggested an invitation. After all, she did seem quiet and someone who disliked gathering and loud places.

He turned slightly and nodded to Alecia. "Thank you."

She tilted her head slightly in return, and walked up to stand next to Meiko. "Hello, I'm Alecia, as Meiko probably introduced. I'm sorry I didn't greet you properly earlier; that was rude of me. I'm naturally absentminded so I get distracted by my thoughts easily."

She spoke with a light tone and stuck her tongue out slightly in embarrassment at the end.

Yukami relaxed at the thought of his new friends; his initial assessment of Alecia's personality was obviously misplaced.

"Well then, may I ask what is it that you're thinking about?" Yukami asked, trying to find a topic. When three strangers stand together not saying anything, things get awkward quick.

Alecia shrugged and her eyes unfocused slightly as if she was drifting back into her thoughts again. "Nothing much. I was just thinking about the ways to find a person whose name I don't know. I've asked Meiko who played a bit in beta, but she didn't know either."

Yukami nodded. He had not played a lot of games back in real life, but he thought he understood the difficulty of trying to find someone in a game with thousands of players. Of course, there was the problem of trying to find his sister who should be in the game somewhere. He had promised to go back and join together but here he was, lost and clueless.

"No use thinking about such matters. You could always ask her when you're both offline," Meiko said suddenly, clapping her hands and bring both Yukami and Alecia out of their thoughts and back onto the plains. "There's no point in standing around doing nothing, so why don't we kill some monsters?"

With that, she grabbed the large sword in one hand and unclasped a few straps on her breastplate with another. As the leather straps fell away, she whipped her arm forward and the sword drew an arc in the air above her, the tip impacting the ground with a thud.

Similarly, Alecia also readied for combat, rapidly materializing a small buckler in her left hand with a command in her equipment interface and drew a long sword with her right.

Yukami drew his sword as well. Before Meiko or Alecia made a move, he charged forward toward a boar. His first strike cleaved through the air at the boar's head but the animal eyes suddenly glowed red. Detecting the strike, the boar tossed its head and the sword grazed the tough tusks that protruded from its mouth. Yukami followed his cut, rolling away past the boar and coming up in a crouch before pivoting on his left foot and slashed horizontally from right to left.

The boar, having turned for face him, was rewarded with a slash through its nose. Squealing in pain, it charged forward. Ready for it, Yukami jumped up and the boar slowed to a stop beneath him, waiting from him. As Yukami fell, he dropped his sword into the back of the boar's skull.

Confirming his kill, he looked up at the girls. They looked at him, stunned. Puzzled, he walked up to them. "What's wrong?"

As he neared, Meiko snapped out of her bewilderment and step forward to join him. "Well...you certainly demonstrated your speed and skill, but...how should I say this…"

"You look longer than you needed to," Alecia finished. "Why didn't you use Sword Skills?"

For a second, Yukami had no idea what they were talking about, before he suddenly remembered reading about the skill system online. "Well...I didn't know how to activate them…" he answered, slightly sheepishly.

To his relief, Meiko laughed and patted his shoulder in encouragement. "Don't worry, it took me a while to figure it out during closed beta. Watch." She strode through the grass until she found a boar. Dropping into a half crouch, she pulled her arm back in the beginnings of a thrust. The heavy sword suddenly began to glow, throwing red sparks into the air. Snapping her arm straight, the point of the sword shot forward, accelerated even faster as Meiko broke into a dash from her crouch.

As its brethren had done to Yukami, the boar attempted to deflect the blow with its tusks, but the point of the sword sliced cleanly through the tooth and buried itself inside the boar. Then, pulling upward, Meiko freed her claymore from the boar, the edge bursting out through the animal's back. Leaning against her sword, she confirmed her kill before jogging back to rejoin her party.

"And that is a sword skill," she said, grinning at Yukami. "You activate them by holding your weapon on a specific stance and it will be ready to be used. Erm...I believe it's called the Pre-motion."

As Yukami opened his mouth to asked a question, she quickly cutted him off. "Don't ask what your stance is. I use a two hand weapon which is different from your weapon. You will have to asked Alecia for it since you both use one handed swords." Meiko nodded at her companion, who dipped her head in acknowledgement.

Complying with her request, Alecia lifted her sword and held it parallel to her shoulder, blade dipping down behind her head. The same sparks began to fly and flew forward, opening a boar's flank. Jumping back, she lifted her buckler and crossed it with her sword.

As her foot touched the ground, she dashed forward again and and her shield collided with the charging boar's snout. Whipping her sword an instant before collision, the sharp edge carved a red path through the left side of the boar's face and the animal exploded into glittering shards in shades of blue and green.

Stepping back, Alecia gestured at Yukami. "Don't try the second one, because you don't have the shield. The first pre-motion can be used by you, I think."

Yukami nodded, pointing his sword at a monster as it respawned in a burst of light. Yelling, he charged forward and struck at the monster's head with a flurry of slashes, lowering the health a fraction. As the boar tossed its head in its attack animation, Yukami drew in a breath and tried to remember the stance.

Lifting his sword and held it just over his shoulder he waited a heartbeat before charging forward. His sword sliced through the charging boar's tusk and dug into its flank, ripping a long wound through its flank. Before the boar could complete its most recent step, it froze and exploded into tiny pieces of light.

Hearing clapping behind him, he turned.

"Congratulations, Yukami! It took me a few tries before I got it working the first time. You did it on your first try!" Meiko cheered. Bounding up to him, she patted him on the back. She smiled up at him and even Alecia managed to get her worried look off her face, stifling a grin.

"Let me try again," Yukami said, "wait." Without waiting for a reply, he stepped forward and took up the stance he was taught, activating the pre-motion. He took one step before he froze.

The deep, ominous sound of a bell washed over him. The glowing sword he held in his hands darkened like a bar of hot iron placed in water. He looked at his companions for some explanation but he was met with confusion in their eyes.

"What is going on?"

He never heard the reply.

Suddenly, white light burst in a ring around his feet and blinded him. Blinking furiously to adjust his eyes to the light, he saw Alecia step toward him in worry before she and Meiko become enclosed in the pure white light.

Feeling his feet go numb, he looked down to see that his lower body has began to disintegrate. Before he could scream, the disintegration completed in an instant and he blacked out.

For an disorienting second, he felt nothing but his thoughts before suddenly dropped onto solid ground with a thump and landed on his back.

Pulling himself together, he stood and looked around him, trying to put a name to the place he now stood. As he watched, other people appeared in bursts of white light all around him in the center of a circular plaza, the bell tolling in the center. Hearing footsteps, he turned to see Meiko and Alecia join him, just two in thousands of other players.

By the twenty fourth toll, the bell fell silent and for an instant, the voices of over nine thousand players stopped; the plaza deathly quiet.

"Look at the sky!"

Somewhere, a voice rang out and soon, all ten thousand players looked up. A single oblong hexagon popped hung in the air, blood red against the orange dusk sky. "Warning."

Another hexagon stacked on top of it, and another, and another. The hexagons completely filled the sky around the city with a dome of red.

A red liquid oozed out from between the gaps, combining in a web and charged with lightning. As the players watched, a hooded head rose out of the liquid, followed by a torso and robe that covered the figure's feet.

Meiko tapped Yukami and Alecia on the shoulder, making them both jump. "That's a GM, but what is he doing here?"

Yukami shook his head, unable to say anything. He felt that something was wrong, as can be assumed from the scenery, but he couldn't tell what. Beside him, Alecia backed away half a step, but Meiko touched pushed back reassuringly.

The hooded figure spread his hands and all of the players' attention was on him. After a heartbeat, the GM began to speak in a voice known to everyone that followed the development of the NerveGear.

"Players...welcome to my world. My name is Kayaba Akihiko, the sole person who controls the world."

Yukami watched the figure, his eyes wide with amazement. This was the person that had driven him on, the person he wanted to overtake, the genius he wanted to surpass. Deep down, he knew that there was only a tiny chance, but if he studied hard…but Akihiko's next words yanked him out of his thoughts.

"I'm sure that some of you have noticed that the logout button is not present in the main menu."

Alecia's eyes widened in shock and she swiftly opened the menu to check. From her expression, Yukami saw that Akihiko's words was not a lie.

"This is not a mistake. I say once again...this is not a mistake; it is a feature of the true Sword Art Online. Because of this, none of you will be able to log out of the game and no one in the real world will be able to safely disconnect you from the NerveGear and the game.

"If interference should happen, there will be a burst of microwave radiation emitted from the transmitter in the NerveGear, destroying your brain and your life will be forfeit."

Alecia shifted beside him, her mouth moving in a whisper. "Yu…"

Everything else was drowned out as the crowd began to talk, voices rising all over the city center. Out of the corner of his eyes, Yukami could see a pair of couple strode toward one of the main streets that lead to the cardinal gates of the city. The guy turned angrily, smashing the air and shouted at the figure. Watching closely, Yukami could see impact ripples in the air as the boy struck the invisible wall.

Meiko abandoned her position behind Alecia and pushed her way to stand on Alecia's left. "If that person is really Kayaba Akihiko, then he is would not lie. Everything else has been true; there would be no purpose to lie to us." Her hand reached for Alecia and Yukami saw her relax slightly where she had been as tense as a coiled snake.

"Unfortunately, prior to this meeting, various friends and family of players have ignored my warnings. As proof of my words, two hundred and thirteen players have departed from both Aincrad and the real world when their loved ones attempted to forcibly remove the NerveGear."

Windows opened all around the GM, pictures of crying people and videos spun around him, destroying any remaining illusions about the validity of his words.

"As you can see, the news of such occurrences have circulated through the entire country. As such, there will be no further attempt to interfere and your danger of death from the outside is minimal. To prevent your death, simply complete the game.

"However, from this point on, all methods of revival have been disabled. As your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted and at the same time, the NerveGear will destroy your brain and end your life.

"As I have mentioned before, there is one way to be freed from this game; that is, the completion of this game. We are all currently present at the first floor, the lowest point in Aincrad. Should you clear a dungeon Labyrinth and defeat the Floor Boss that resides in there, you will be permitted to continue to the next floor. At the moment the Boss of the hundredth floor is defeated, the game will be considered cleared, resulting in your release."

Meiko stared in shock at the figure. "That's almost impossible! In three months, a thousand players only managed to get to the tenth floor after hundred of deaths!" As Yukami looked around, he saw similar reactions in multiple people near him. Protests rang out through the crowd.

Akihiko paid them no attention, as if he was a programmed AI. Without a break in his flow, he continued his speech. "Finally, I have prepared for every one of you a present that you will find in your inventory. Please take a look."

Yukami looked down and opened up the main menu, going through the buttons until he found his inventory. Opening it, he found it completely empty except for one item. A Mirror.

His finger hovering over the item, he hesitated. What was Akihiko planning? Tapping the name, he selected the Use option. A mirror materialized out of polygons and he grabbed it before it could fall. Closing the inventory, he looked inside and saw himself; his brown hair and eyes, a haggard and weary expression on his face.

Cries around him made him jerk his attention away from the item in his hand. The players were being engulfed in blue-white light. Before he could react, he too could see nothing but white. The entire plaza was flooded with the bright beams that surrounded all ten thousand players, countering even the blood red sky.

As the light faded, he staggered and looked down to regain his balance. Long black hair fell down around his face. Tightening his grip around the mirror in his hands, his hands shot up and brought the item up to his face, looking inside...

Yuyuki.

Shocked, the girl spun around in a circle, trying to find reassurance in anyone. Why had she changed back? It must be the mirror. Her gaze finally landed on the spot where her two companions were standing a few seconds ago.

A tall girl stared back at her in surprise; almost copies of each other except for the fact Ayase towered over her. The girl bit the bottom of her lips and knelt down to hug her, despite the chaos that was happening all around them as players found out what each other looked like in real life. Placing her mirror on the floor, Yuyuki placed her hands on her sister's back as well, for once unembarrassed by the public display of affection.

From behind Ayase's shoulder, Yuyuki saw another girl walk up to them, wearing Meiko's armor. Instead of aquamarine, Meiko's eyes now carried a sky blue color and her hair was blonde. She had a slight smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she watched the siblings but she nonetheless tilted her head grimly at the sky. Yuyuki slowly nodded and pushed gently at her sister. Ayase complied, standing up and releasing her sister.

Things might be terrible, but she was back together with her sister. They all looked up at Akihiko, who wordlessly watched the events. Finally, he began his conclusion.

"You might be wondering now, 'why? Why would I, Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear do such a thing?' All my goals have already been met. I created this world and Sword Art Online for my personal entertainment. With the preparations complete, I will sit back and watch.

"This is the end of the official tutorial of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you luck on your journey."

As the gathering watched, the dark fumes began to flow from the GM, the clothes collapsing upon themselves as whatever was supporting the inside disappeared and then the red robes themselves faded in static blurs and the red liquid receded back into the hexagonal dome.

Abruptly, the warnings vanished without a trace; the only proof of the GM's presence was a few sparkling bits of red shards that fell onto the clock tower roof before it disappeared.

For the second time of the day, the entire world was silent, until a sharp cracking sound ripped through the air as someone dropped their mirror. The crowd snapped out of their daze, erupting into confusion and discord.

Ayase looked around her and tapped Meiko on the shoulder, jerking her head toward one of the main streets. The blonde turned and looked at her, before nodding. Each of them grabbed Yuyuki's hands and dragged her toward the exit of the plaza, dodging people as they made their way away from the crowd.

There was another pair of people pulling away from the chaos as well. They entered the streets, lead by Meiko and turned a corner, leaving the noise behind.

* * *

They stopped outside of an armor shop and Yuyuki looked at the sign in confusion. The NPC smiled brightly at their arrival.

"Hello! Welcome to my humble shop. Armor is very important so please do look around!"

Yuyuki instinctively bowed to the shopkeeper before Meiko and her sister pulled her inside. In the room, rows upon rows of armor hung upon the walls. Polished metal gleamed and varnished leather reflected the lamplight dully.

Amid the rows of armor, Yuyuki could not help but speak in a small voice, feeling a strange reverence. "What are we doing here?"

Meiko looked at her and laughed quietly, "we're here to buy armor, of course." She pointed at her. Just look at yourself.

Yuyuki looked down and understood their presence in the armory. The avatar she had made was a good forty centimeters taller than she actually was and the armor he donned is many sizes to large even after server adjustments; the armor hung loosely on her. Her sister's voice made her look up.

Ayase held up a breastplate. "Here, try this on. New armor should adjust to fit you almost exactly as mine does. I think this one has higher defense stats than the one you have on now."

She knocked a knuckle on the metal. "It's thicker and heavier and looks like it has lower STR but higher DEX." She tossed the armor piece and Yuyuki caught it, almost going down with the weight.

She held it tightly and felt the armor get lighter gradually as her STR stats kicked in and lowered the weight of the metal in relation to her strength. When she could hold it with one hand, she tapped the armor with a finger and selected the Inspect option.

A window opened, showing a comparison between her current breastplate and the one she held in her hand. Next to it, an image floated, showing a avatar spinning slowly with both armor pieces equipped.

As low level armor, the two looked similar. The one she is equipped with has a completely flat chest; not that she has much to begin with. The one she held in her had a slight curve to it along with slightly thicker metal that grant it higher defensive capability.

Looking away from the preview, Yuyuki glanced at the name. The armor was part of a NPC set Prairie Guardsman. She looked back up at her sister and nodded.

"Do you like it?" Ayase asked, a bit needlessly. Without waiting for an answer, she took the breastplate from Yuyuki's hand and took it to the merchant NPC.

There was a dull clunk behind her and Yuyuki turned to see Meiko stagger out the back of the shop, the rest of the armor set in a small cart behind her.

The broad NPC glanced at the cart as Meiko pulled it in front of him and began counting up the price in a preprogrammed movement. Exactly two seconds later, the blacksmith looked back at Ayase.

"That will be nine hundred sixty Cor total."

Yuyuki winced at the price. She only had around a thousand three hundred Cor from killing the Frenzy Boars. She pulled at Ayase's arms.

"Wait, isn't that too expensive?"

Ayase smiled down at her. "No, my set costed over a thousand. Cor is easy to come by in small amounts. Spending it on NPC equipment at the start so we can get better ones from monsters later is the most efficient way so far." She looked at Meiko for confirmation.

Meiko laughed. "Yes, I found out the hard way that starter armor are barely any protection. I'm impressed with anyone who manages to get to the second town without upgrading." She tapped her chin with a finger, thinking. "Yuyuki seem like she can do it though. You have good reflex and speed, from the way you handled the boars without Sword Skills."

Yuyuki blushed at the praise, her ears heating up and she pressed against Ayase to hide her embarrassment.

A window popped up on her right, as her front was occupied by Ayase's body. It was a trade request from "Alecia." She clicked the accept button and Ayase's side of the trade quickly filled up pieces of armor, numbering ten in total to fill in the slots on her character menu. Her sister's side of the trade then greyed out as she confirmed the trade. Immediately, Yuyuki looked for the currency blank. Finding it at the bottom of the window, she quickly keyed in nine hundred and sixty. As she tapped confirm, Ayase's half lightened as her change undid the confirmation.

Ayase sighed. "Yu... I've had this back and forth in every single MMO I've played. Don't make me do this here."

Yuyuki shook her head and tapped confirm.

Ayase glared at her before returning nine hundred and sixty Cor to her and Yuyuki's half unconfirmed. Yuyuki swallowed a sigh of frustration and lowered her side to four hundred eighty Cor. Satisfied with the compromise, Ayase concluded the trade and Yuyuki was present with ten new armor pieces in her inventory. Looking at the stats of each of them, she replace her current armor with the Prairie Guardsman set as they walked. She had no idea where they were headed. Suddenly, she stopped.

She tugged on Ayase's arm again. "What is this at the bottom of the backpack?" Meiko stopped walking and turned around to look at her curiously. Ayase opened her own inventory to see.

An item she did not see before was hidden at the bottom of her item storage. Curious, she tapped the item and it displayed the name of the item.

Name Change Scroll

Ayase shrugged, turning to Meiko. The blonde tapped use on her item and typed in something. A second later, Yuyuki looked up to see Meiko's name blinking on her party list. It blinked five times and then stayed the same.

"I changed my name. It does exactly when the name says; no traps there. I liked 'Meiko' so I'm keeping it," Meiko said. "It'll probably crowd up my inventory later so I'll get rid of it now."

Yuyuki stared at her item before tapping Use. Since she looked like her real life self, she might as well carry her proper name proudly. Typing "Yuyuki," she confirmed it and watched as her name blink six times for each letter in her name and stopped, showing "Yuyuki" in its place.

"One, will you use it, too?" Yukami asked, looking up at her older sister.

Ayase chewed on her lip and then nodded. "I'm fine with Alecia so I'll keep it the same." She typed in "Alecia" and her name remained the same after flashing six times. "Yuyuki, did you finish equipping your armor?"

Yuyuki nodded, holding up her arms like she did at home when she showed off her new clothes to her family. Ayase nodded in satisfaction. "It looks nice on you. Come now, we have to keep moving before the other players come."

Meiko looked up at the sky. The sky was littered with clouds, a hint of the moon low in the horizon. She shook her head. "It's late. Most players won't go out at night; especially not after that speech Akihiko gave." At the name, she gritted her teeth but relaxed so fast, Yuyuki wasn't sure she saw it.

"Still, we should go before morning. We need as big a head start as we can get since three players need more resources than just one."

"Good point, Alecia," Meiko nodded. She turned and began to walk toward the west gate of the city. Ayase and Yuyuki followed wordlessly. Stopping at a shop, she bought three packs of black bread. Tossing Yuyuki and Ayase each a pack, she stuffed the pack into her inventory. "These taste really, really bad, but anything better would take too long. It gets better in Horunka."

They stopped at the western gate of the city and looked at each other. Yuyuki looked at Meiko when the blonde sent her a trade request. A sword appeared in the first slot and Yuyuki accepted it thankfully and without protest. Switching it out with her current weapon, the trio set out along the northwestern path, weapons ready.

Author's Note: The armor parts deviates from canon. There are ten different pieces of armor on a character, but what the parts actually are is different since the parts were next specified. My selected ten pieces are helm, breastplate, tassets, pauldrons, rerebraces, vambraces, gauntlets, poleyn, greaves and boots. Not that most of these words will be used…

Also, as exact armor mechanics are not stated in my knowledge, I'll make them up as well.

In case anyone is confused, Yukami is Yuyuki's avatar's name. Alecia is Ayase and Meiko is Meiko (her real name is not revealed yet.) I've established their names so from now on, only their in game names will be used after this chapter.


End file.
